Chalk Drawings
by freyinthelake
Summary: A Freylin drabble. Freya wants to thank Merlin for his kindness so she does something for him (while she is still in hiding).


The still very red rose, the food that came every day, and the jacket that was far too big to use as an actual jacket, but as blanket suited just fine. All little pieces of the gift that Merlin was himself. Reminders that someone actually cared, and at a level which Freya had never encountered before. Something about it frightened her too: that someone could care so much that he woke up early and stayed up late to make sure she wasn't hungry or waited until she was sleeping soundly to leave her alone. The idea that such an intensity of feeling lay behind Merlin's actions thrilled and terrified her to the core. Partially because she was beginning to feel the same things. When his light footfalls crept through the tunnels and his shadow fell over the flickering candlelight, smiling became slowly uncontrollable. His fierce intent to protect her had become painfully and refreshingly evident the night before when re-capture had come so near. Little things and not so small things both reminded her constantly of him, and just how much he was doing for her. The more she thought about it, the more she felt the tugging need to give him something in return.

Sleep wasn't coming, and by the ringing of the court bell it didn't sound at all like evening. In fact, it sounded like late morning, if the thuds on the street above her were any indication at all. Against her better judgement Freya decided to press a little further into the very dark tunnels, taking only one candle should she need to snuff it out and hide. There was hardly much length left to the main tunnel, and the last alcove was mainly dusty and empty, appearing unfinished except for the smooth stone walls. Multiple thick nubs of chalk remained from construction, and she began to fiddle with them before long. As she sat, her thoughts drifted to the conversation she and Merlin had a few days earlier. Freya recalled her home with a small smile, then began to try and picture his. The two locations began to run together in her thoughts before long. Suddenly she had an idea. Grabbing a piece of chalk, she jumped up and hurriedly began to sketch across the alcove wall.

By the time Freya's project was finished, she was immensely tired, covered in dirt and chalk dust up to her ears. But the finished product was so very worth it. Now, all she had to do was wait for Merlin to come back so she could show him her masterpiece.

Only an hour or two later, after managing to snag some rest, Freya awoke from a feather light sleep to scuffing on the floor. She scrambled to her feet in a dither, dusting herself off - at least as much as she could. A long amount of time on her knees had ground enough dust into her skirt as to render it impossible to get it out by hand. Yet it didn't matter, because just as soon as Merlin rounded the corner she began to smile shyly.

Immediately his expression shifted from quiet greeting to surprise and then confusion. "Are you alright?" Merlin wondered aloud. Too excited to speak at first, Freya nodded rapidly and grabbed his hand. "Yes, I've got something I want to show you." Picking up the torch he'd left on the ground, she beckoned for him to follow.

Pulling him around several corners, she reached the last one before the room she'd been working in all day long. Before she could think twice about it, she stepped closer and quickly reached for Merlin's neckerchief tie round the back of his neck. Focusing her vision on trying to untie the knot helped stay the blush that threatened her cheeks. She'd just noticed the slight forward tilt of Merlin's head when she moved towards him, and it made her hands shake the smallest fraction. He'd obviously expected her to do something different, a little more…direct. She was too nervous to do something like that - he was the one who initiated those actions. Freya hadn't and couldn't work up the courage to do such a thing yet. Maybe another time.

All the while Merlin had been silent as Freya finally got the knot undone and rolled the kerchief up. Tying the ends firmly at the back of his head, she stepped back to examine his blindfold. "Can you see anything, Merlin?" He shook his head in the negative, then inquired curiously, "What on earth are you doing?" Grinning impishly even though he couldn't see, the druid girl whispered "It's a surprise."

While bringing him around the final corner at last, silent giggles began to bubble up and there was no controlling them. Stilling herself long enough to yank off the blindfold and stuff the cloth back into Merlin's free hand, she waved the arm bearing the torch across the surrounding walls proudly. Merlin's face was a perfect picture of shock and wonder all at the same time.

Freya had covered the bases of the walls with little star-shaped flowers, so that it looked like the two of them were surrounded by a field completely full of the flora. Two small cows were drawn on the right wall, alongside a tiny, slightly rickety looking house. The left wall displayed a lake that rippled under an invisible wind. A cheery sun on the middle wall beamed down over the landscape, and if Freya imagined hard enough, they could very well be surrounded with light from that very sun. It was everything that they'd told each other of their homes, all brought together.

Merlin took it in with speechless delight for a few minutes before laughing out loud. "Freya!" he cheered, "It's beautiful! And is that….." With some hesitation he regarded the sunburst. "Is that a pinwheel?" With a little "OH!" and quick shove, Freya incredulously answered him with "Merlin, that's a sun!" A teasing laugh followed her retort as well as his arms wrapping around her and holding her tightly to him. "It's lovely. Everything's there, even the cows!" A few more giggles on both parts ensued before Merlin turned to look back at Freya. "It's lovely," he repeated. "I know it must be a little boring down here, but - "

She stopped him with a gentle prod and shake of her head. "I did it because I wanted to thank you. For everything. The food. For staying with me when I was scared last night. Everything." Freya couldn't even look at him now; saying so much and showing him all of this had been difficult. She was never one to really elaborate on her thoughts and feelings, even before her life had turned so sour. She found herself staring instead at the frayed edges of Merlin's neckerchief, and thinking that if she could stay in Camelot she would very much like to mend it for him.

But Merlin wasn't quite satisfied. Ducking down to meet her gaze sweetly, a gentle smile began to spread across his face. He still held tight to her while saying, "I _want_ to do it, you know. I promised you I'd keep you safe." The stormy blue of his eyes blazed with earnestness as he whispered, "I promised." Her gaze returned to the loose red threads around his neck while she prayed her burning cheeks couldn't be seen. "Thank you," came out a little more strangled than she would have liked, but she meant it. Before she knew what was happening, Merlin had captured her mouth for a few slow seconds, and all thoughts of threads and chalky, dusty skirts were gone when her eyes closed.

Merlin sat with Freya in her little alcove for the rest of the afternoon. She gratefully ate the food he'd brought, and they talked more about their favorite memories of home, lakes, and anything else that came to mind. When sleep began to take over, he arranged his old jacket over her shoulders as her heavy eyelids drifted shut. When she woke later, she found a little drawing of a single rose in the sand.

{for reference, I was kind of thinking of the sun/pinwheel bit looking somewhat like the sunburst from , just drawn with white chalk on a stone wall :P}


End file.
